PORT ANGELES — Accused double-murderer Patrick B. Drum was prevented from pleading guilty at his arraignment Wednesday to killing two registered sex offenders whose bullet-riddled bodies were found June 3 inside their homes.
“I don’t need this court,” the 34-year-old Sequim man told Clallam County Superior Court Judge Ken Williams.
“I’m guilty. I want to plead guilty.”
Drum, a convicted felon who allegedly told authorities he was targeting sex offenders, is charged with two counts of aggravated first-degree murder, one count of first-degree burglary and one count of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
The charges were filed in connection with the deaths of Jerry W. Ray, 56, of 31 Heuhslein Road in Port Angeles and Gary L. Blanton Jr., 28, of 5011 Sequim-Dungeness Way, where Drum also lived.
Ray and Blanton were shot multiple times, authorities said.
Williams said that under state statute, Drum, was not allowed to enter a guilty plea — just yet.
“I don’t have the ability to accept your plea at this particular time,” Williams said, setting a review hearing for 9 a.m. June 28.
County Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly, who has said she may seek the death penalty against Drum, has a period of time to investigate her options, Williams said.
Kelly said in a later interview she has up to 30 calendar days from Wednesday’s arraignment — which is July 13 — to make the decision.
The alternative would be to seek life in prison.
Kelly said that in cases in which the death penalty is a possibility, a defendant cannot plead guilty until the prosecution has had the chance to fully decide if “there are not sufficient mitigating circumstances to merit leniency,” according to the statute.
“That’s the same question that is ultimately put to the jury if I do decide to seek the death penalty,” Kelly said.
Kelly said she was “pretty stunned” by Drum’s attempt to plead guilty.
“I don’t recall ever having a murder defendant try to plead guilty at an arraignment,” said Kelly, who has worked in the county prosecuting attorney’s office for 22 years.
Detective Sgt. Lyman Moores of the Clallam County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday that authorities have not been able to verify the connection between Ray and Drum.
Drum was captured with a 9 mm handgun in a rugged area near Blue Mountain Road at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday after an extensive manhunt.
Moores, who said authorities are trying to trace the gun’s ownership, said Drum was planning to go to Quilcene to kill another registered sex offender.
“He had obtained names with research he had done with a computer,” Moores said.
Drum, who also told Williams he wanted to represent himself, had tried pleading guilty without telling his court-appointed lawyer, Karen Unger of Port Angeles, Unger said.
________
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
